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Category: Happenings

Fourth Avenue has undergone a slew of changes of late, perhaps more than any corridor in and around Gowanus. High-rise luxury condos now line a street that was once considered just a nasty trucking route; myriad bars dot the upper portion; the traffic lanes have been reconfigured to make the street more pedestrian friendly. And that’s just the beginning.

There will be a gathering tonight at the Old Stone House in J.J. Byrne Memorial Park to discuss the future of 4th Avenue, especially as it relates to the new administration in City Hall. The event has been organized by Forth On Fourth, a Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council , and city council members Brad Lander and Steve Levin will be in attendance. Here’s the invite, posted at Pardon Me For Asking:

This week we listed Halloween events in both their normal categories section and in the ‘Halloween Related’ section. Also, we added Monday cause we know after a weekend like this and cause Monday is Halloween (the greatest holiday on Planet Earth) we know your not going to work. We hope you have a happy and safe weekend as you get you freak on! All the best!

-GYFO Staff

Thursday October 27th, 2011

Artastic

Proteus Gowanus: Migration - Worldwide, human migration is accelerating at a pace that makes the migratory patterns of the industrial revolution look trivial. These changes of course affect the migratory creatures with whom we share the planet: birds and beasts, microorganisms and the ideas or memes that travel like lightening across continents and, like live creatures, require care and feeding. All this movement drives and is driven by the movement of stuff, the products and things that are consumed, discarded, recycled, dumped and consumed again.

Observatory: ATTACK OF THE MUTANT THEREMIN with Kip Rosser - Thereminist Kip Rosser will demonstrate why Halloween is the perfect time of year for a scholarly and irreverent evening of bizarre history and strange science, featuring live music played on the weirdest instrument on the planet. The theremin was the world’s first electronic instrument, the first amplified instrument, and the original synthesizer. Today, it remains the only instrument ever invented that’s played without being touched.

Two Moons: Fabien Sevilla - Sevilla will perform works from his solo album, “Kôans.”A series of short, meditative compositions, the Kôans evoke the aphorisms used in Zen meditation to reach a constraint-free level of consciousness. Sevilla makes use of his masterful technique and keen intuition to captivate audiences and guide them into a heightened state of calm, allowing their imaginations to run free. Amidst these shorter works, Sevilla will also perform contemporary pieces written for solo double bass by the likes of Emil Tabakov, Teppo Hauta-Aho and David Ellis.

Performance / Theatre

Old Stone House: Alice, Or The Scottish Gravediggers- Alice Butler, a young orphan working as a serving girl in her aunt’s inn, is torn. Two of the inn’s lodgers – the wealthy Sir Jack Spleen and the poor but dashing medical student Edward Belton – are vying for her attention. As their competition takes a dark turn, it is soon not simply Alice’s future that is at stake, but her very life. Arriving in time for the Halloween season, this sinister French melodrama from 1829 is René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt’s take on one of the most gruesome and notorious scandals of his day – the Burke & Hare murders, in which the victims’ corpses were sold for use in medical dissections.

Friday October 28th, 2011

Artastic

Proteus Gowanus: Migration - Worldwide, human migration is accelerating at a pace that makes the migratory patterns of the industrial revolution look trivial. These changes of course affect the migratory creatures with whom we share the planet: birds and beasts, microorganisms and the ideas or memes that travel like lightening across continents and, like live creatures, require care and feeding. All this movement drives and is driven by the movement of stuff, the products and things that are consumed, discarded, recycled, dumped and consumed again.

BIG! NYC: BIG!NYC Halloween Benefit -welcome the new green kids on the block BIG! NYC with a Halloween Benefit *thanks Gowans Canal Conservancy for letting us know about this event

Dance Party

Bellhouse: HAPPY HOUSE: HALLOWEEN - Not sure what to do with yourself the day before Halloween? Easy answer: come dancing with us! Whether or not you come out costumed, we’ll be dancing our asses off to Holy Ghost, Penguin Prison, Yuksek and more all night long.

BIG! NYC: BIG!NYC Halloween Benefit -welcome the new green kids on the block BIG! NYC with a Halloween Benefit *thanks Gowans Canal Conservancy for letting us know about this event

Bellhouse: HAPPY HOUSE: HALLOWEEN - Not sure what to do with yourself the day before Halloween? Easy answer: come dancing with us! Whether or not you come out costumed, we’ll be dancing our asses off to Holy Ghost, Penguin Prison, Yuksek and more all night long.

Music

Bellhouse: PETER WOLF special seating show - For some, Peter Wolf is the energetic singer of a handful of major hits for The J. Geils Band–”Centerfold,” “Freeze Frame,” and “Love Stinks.” For others, he’s the genre-spanning solo artist whose 2002 album Rolling Stone ranked among its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Old Stone House: Alice, Or The Scottish Gravediggers - Alice Butler, a young orphan working as a serving girl in her aunt’s inn, is torn. Two of the inn’s lodgers – the wealthy Sir Jack Spleen and the poor but dashing medical student Edward Belton – are vying for her attention. As their competition takes a dark turn, it is soon not simply Alice’s future that is at stake, but her very life. Arriving in time for the Halloween season, this sinister French melodrama from 1829 is René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt’s take on one of the most gruesome and notorious scandals of his day – the Burke & Hare murders, in which the victims’ corpses were sold for use in medical dissections.

Saturday October 29th, 2011

Artastic

Proteus Gowanus: Migration- Worldwide, human migration is accelerating at a pace that makes the migratory patterns of the industrial revolution look trivial. These changes of course affect the migratory creatures with whom we share the planet: birds and beasts, microorganisms and the ideas or memes that travel like lightening across continents and, like live creatures, require care and feeding. All this movement drives and is driven by the movement of stuff, the products and things that are consumed, discarded, recycled, dumped and consumed again.

Spoke the Hub: Elise’s Creative Clubhouse & Altruism Society – Spoke the Hub’s newest creative bandwagon this fall and join STH Founder/Director, Elise Long, on a multi-disciplinary adventure that expands the innate “generosity” of heart and mind – within ones’ self and towards others — and uses those explorations and discoveries as a springboard for creative actions and altruism.

Gowanus Print Lab: EGGHEAD HALLOWEEN - A no-mess, family-fun Halloween craft activity! Kids choose an Egghead character and dress it up in their choice of silly and spooky Halloween costumes! Start by watching your Egghead character screen printed LIVE on our hand-pulled production press. After choosing from a wide selection of costumes, masks, shoes, and fun accessories to personalize their Egghead, the kiddies cut out the clothing shapes and we heat press the cut-outs on at the end of the activity. Take home your custom Halloween tee that day!

Gowanus Print Lab: EGGHEAD HALLOWEEN - A no-mess, family-fun Halloween craft activity! Kids choose an Egghead character and dress it up in their choice of silly and spooky Halloween costumes! Start by watching your Egghead character screen printed LIVE on our hand-pulled production press. After choosing from a wide selection of costumes, masks, shoes, and fun accessories to personalize their Egghead, the kiddies cut out the clothing shapes and we heat press the cut-outs on at the end of the activity. Take home your custom Halloween tee that day!

Lowlands: Halloween Party - come down and eat more Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups than you ever have before in your life, all while shaking your ass to some smooth Kenny Loggins jams. By three in the morning it won’t be ironic anymore. Just fun.

Movie / TV

Bellhouse: HALLOWEEN METAL MAYHEM OFFICIAL TAILGATE PARTY: HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT- before the main metal event for the official Metal Mayhem Tailgate Pre-party & free screening of the 1986 cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot. We’ll have burgers and dogs courtesy of Urban Rustic, happy hour drink specials for all of your beer-shotgunning needs, and one of the greatest documentaries ever made to get you in the mood for headbanging.

Rock Shop: NY Band Draft Super Bowl - If you’re not familiar with what New York Band Draft is, imagine uprooting a bunch of local “musicians,” reducing them to humiliating data points and auctioning them off like frightened steer to despotic “captains.” The resultant “bands” are then charged with spending four weeks coming up with a decent name, writing two original songs and performing a cover song in such a way that its inspiration isn’t forever ruined in the minds of the voting audience.” see blog: here

Performance / Theatre

Issue Project Room: Artist-in-Residence James Ilgenfritz: The Ticket That Exploded: An Opera (based on a novel by William S. Burroughs)- Artist-in-Residence James Ilgenfritz presents The Ticket That Exploded: An Opera based on William Burroughs’ 1962 dystopian novel about identity disintegration, oppression of humanity’s collective consciousness through technological influence, and revolution through the subversion of those very technologies. Featuring vocalists Ted Hearne, Nick Hallett, Melissa Hughes, Anne Rhodes, Steve Dalachnsky, and Ryan Opperman, an ensemble of fifteen instrumentalists, and live video projections from Jason Ponce, the opera will be organized using the same cut-up techniques and emphasis on language that distinguishes Burroughs’ literary work.

Old Stone House: Alice, Or The Scottish Gravediggers - Alice Butler, a young orphan working as a serving girl in her aunt’s inn, is torn. Two of the inn’s lodgers – the wealthy Sir Jack Spleen and the poor but dashing medical student Edward Belton – are vying for her attention. As their competition takes a dark turn, it is soon not simply Alice’s future that is at stake, but her very life. Arriving in time for the Halloween season, this sinister French melodrama from 1829 is René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt’s take on one of the most gruesome and notorious scandals of his day – the Burke & Hare murders, in which the victims’ corpses were sold for use in medical dissections.

Triomph Fitness:Hot Bird Running!- Get running this fall with Hot Bird Running and Triomph’s 4 week Running Program. We’ll take you from 0 to 3.3 miles (Prospect Park loop) in 4 weeks. You’ll feel great and learn how to run strong!

Douglas Street Music Collective: Naranjo-Stankova-Young; Dan Blake Solo - a new trio with Ivan Naranjo (electronics) and Maria Stankova (voice-electronics) will be making its debut! The trio has been working on a recording for Peira records that will come out in the winter, and Ivan might even wear the most frightening mask ever conceived (think Karlheinz…)! You can also catch Dan Blake who will play a rare solo set to start things off.

Monday October 31, 2011

Triomph Fitness:Hot Bird Running!- Get running this fall with Hot Bird Running and Triomph’s 4 week Running Program. We’ll take you from 0 to 3.3 miles (Prospect Park loop) in 4 weeks. You’ll feel great and learn how to run strong!

Rock Shop: Savage Republic – 8:00pm - Rising from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation by virtue of five mesmerizing studio albums and a string of legendary live performances. Forever shifting, their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of postpunk, industrial and soundtrack music, incorporating minimalist bass rumbles, exotic metal percussion, primal chants, middle eastern melodies and even shards of surf guitar. Add to this iconic letterpress graphics by founder member Bruce Licher, and Savage Republic stack up as one of the most exciting and potent experimental groups to emerge at any time or place during the last three decades.

Friday September 16th, 2011

Artistic

Gowanus Ballroom: Paint Works - The premise of Paint Works is pretty straightforward: there are a host of bad-ass painters out in our nearby environs, doing what they do and doing it really well. We are bringing that energy, those skills, and that vibe together in an art show focused solely on innovative contemporary painting.

Minus Space: Pointing a Telescope at the Sun - 12pm - MINUS SPACE is pleased to present Pointing a Telescope at the Sun, a group exhibition highlighting abstract color painting by five highly-influential NYC-based artists: Gabriele Evertz, Vincent Longo, Doug Ohlson, Robert Swain, and Sanford Wurmfeld. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Doug Ohlson (1936-2010) who passed away last year at age 73.

Saturday September 17th, 2011

Artistic

Minus Space: Pointing a Telescope at the Sun - 12pm - MINUS SPACE is pleased to present Pointing a Telescope at the Sun, a group exhibition highlighting abstract color painting by five highly-influential NYC-based artists: Gabriele Evertz, Vincent Longo, Doug Ohlson, Robert Swain, and Sanford Wurmfeld. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Doug Ohlson (1936-2010) who passed away last year at age 73.

Rock Shop: Malajube / Les Sans Culottes / Jonny Chan & The New Dynasty 6 - 8:00pm – Malajube: After a well deserved break and a year long production for their third album. Labyrinthes, was released in Canada in February 2009 on Dare to Care Records, and Malajube is back on stage. The band has recently kicked-off their year long world tour. “Brooklyn’s Les Sans Culottes have taken the whole faux-French-band thing pretty far—the group’s live shows are superenergetic, fake-multicultural events. You might not learn anything about French culcha, but you’ll probably hop around like a lunatic.” Time Out New York

Issue Project Room: TedxFortGreene Salon – 2:00pm - The second TEDxFortGreene Salon hosted at ISSUE Project Room will feature stories of creativity and innovation. Speakers include curator Ingrid LaFleur; bassist Melvin Gibbs, who will speak about his new work The DNA Project in which he uses DNA databases to reconstruct the roots of his family tree; Dr. Ben Dubin-Thaler, whose Cell Motion BioBus is a high-tech laboratory on wheels; and Elastic City founder Todd Shalom, who presents conceptual walks by artists throughout and outside of New York. Hors d’oeuvre and gourmet pizza by local chefs will be served, along with a wine and cognac tasting.

Workshop

Observatory: Plant Medicine: An Initiation into an Alchemist’s Art - 2:00pm - For millennia people have made medicine for the body and psyche through direct relationship with nature. This knowledge is our birthright. Awakening our senses to the energetics of healing is something we can access with intention and creativity. In this class we will look at the history, myth, science, and art of magical herbal preparations. We will experience first hand local shamanic plants and learn to make our own tincture for creativity and enhanced intuition. Our work with plants will open us to further transformational healing and connection to the natural world.

Futures

Fun Fact: The first major battle of the American Revolutionary War took place along the banks of Gowanus in August 1776.

Thursday June 30th, 2011

Art Gallery

Gowanus Studio Space: Seaworthy - exhibition featuring artists who approach water navigation as subject, pushing its potential as a mutable open platform for social experimentation as well as metaphor for personal, artistic, and collective freedom

Friday July 1st, 2011

Art Gallery

Gowanus Studio Space: Seaworthy - exhibition featuring artists who approach water navigation as subject, pushing its potential as a mutable open platform for social experimentation as well as metaphor for personal, artistic, and collective freedom

Rooftop Film @ Old Can Factory: WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM - a journey from a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, following childhood friends forever changed by a faraway war. (incudes Q & A with filmmaker Heather Courtney and U.S. veterans of the war in Afghanistan)

Gowanus Studio Space: SEA WORTHY: An Exhibition - an exhibition featuring artists who approach water navigation as subject, pushing its potential as a mutable open platform for social experimentation as well as metaphor for personal, artistic, and collective freedom.

Gowanus Studio Space: SEA WORTHY: An Exhibition - an exhibition featuring artists who approach water navigation as subject, pushing its potential as a mutable open platform for social experimentation as well as metaphor for personal, artistic, and collective freedom.

Future

If you wish to have your Gowanus event listed please send an email to GowanusYourFaceOff at gmail.com and we will gladly include the event and a link about the event in our weekly post.*information on this list have been borrowed from the indicated venues’ websites. The use of content is meant to promote the venue and the artists or group.

*information on this list is borrowed from the indicated venues’ websites. The use of content is meant to promote the venue and the artists or groups.

There is a constant battle within GYFO about who is the better Captain Kirk or Picard. Luckily Bellhouse is focusing on just one (the best one) for their Star Trek themed party, The Shat Ball 3! The June 16th ball will celebrate the man, the myth, and the legend Captain James Tiberius Kirk…er…William Shatner! The event will have themed comedy acts, a Star Trek band, Costume Contest (Nerdgasm!), Star Trek trivia, spacey drinks: Romulan ale and Klingon blood-wine, and of course the DJ will be blasting William Shatner albums to kill any earwigs.

In March 2009 Leo Mark Hodson fell 18 feet from a balcony and was severerly injured. Over the past two year with surgery and his amazing will power he has improved greatly, but remains paralyzed from the neck down. At Littlefield this Friday a benefit will be held to help Leo get the equipment the insurance companies will not cover. The events got a great lineup of rock and techno including: Dirty Excuse, DJ Roze-Royze, DJ Noa D, Ingie Pop, and more…

Thursday May 5, 2011

Rockshop: Cordero / Reid Paley Trio - CINCO DE MAYO PARTY • TACOS!! Ani Cordero founded the bilingual indie-rock band in Tucson, Arizona in early 1999. She borrowed members of Tucson’s Calexico and Giant Sand and called the group by her Puerto Rican family name, Cordero. / Reid Palye: “A voice to turn good girls bad…Maybe crazy but damn exciting.”–The Village Voice

Littlefield: Barbés presents: CINCO DE MAYO: BANDA DE LOS MUERTOS & CHICHA LIBRE - Banda de Los Muertos will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a selection of classic tunes to get dead drunk to, with a supergroup of sorts featuring alumni of Slavic Soul Party and other NY top players. With Oscar Noriega & Chris Speed – clarinets; Jakob Garchick – Sousaphone; Jim Black percussion; Patrick Farrell & Rachel Drehman – ; Alto horn; Curtis Hasselbring & Brian Drye – trombones and many guest singers tba. / While not a Mexican band per se, Chicha Libre plays Cumbia, probably the most popular form of dance music in Mexico and most of Latin America.

Issue Project Room: Kenny Millions + Starlicker - Virtuoso saxophonist and clarinetist Kenny Millions invented the hum ha horn, and unleashes what is sometimes called “creative terrorism,” in performances both comic and enigmatic. / Starlicker is a unique trio, blending the origins of sound with imperative immediacy and sublime power.

Friday May 6th, 2011

Knitted Boobs

Textile Art Center: Day of Service : Knit A Boob Workshop – presented by Oak Knit Studio - knitting prosthetic boobs for patients and survivors of breast cancer who have lost their breasts to surgery. The pattern is inspired by Beryl Tsang, a knitter and cancer survivor who started knitting her own prostheses and began Titbits. In addition, the prostheses will be lovingly donated to BreastCancer.org. So, if you know how to knit, or have been itching to learn, this is a great way to take part in a wonderful day of service.

Textile Arts Center: Oks Gallery: GOOD WORK – A Fiber Arts show curated by Tali Weinberg. This May Day the Textile Arts Center and Oak Knit Studio are celebrating the textile workers, artists, designers, and activists who make our world more beautiful and just—all makers tied together by the products of our labor—all makers whose work tries to do good in a multitude of ways. Artist: Abigail Doan, Atefeh Khas, Belinda Smith, Charlene Lam, El Hombre Sobre la Tierra in collaboration with Global Goods Partners and Via Nativa, Erica Harris, Erin Considine, Hilary Steel, Jill Magi, Maya Valladares, Michele Pred, and Susan Weltman

Root Hill’s Trash Pony Bar: Bonobos in the Mist - prints by Shelly Mars gallery closing. Better known as a performance artist for twenty five years, her latest performance piece, Homo Bonobo Project, led Shelly to print making. These prints reveal a freeness that is consistent with the irreverence and punch of her performance style.

Rockshop:Ferraby Lionheart / Vandaveer / Two Dark Birds – Two Dark Birds: A strange and beautiful trend is making it’s way across the independent music landscape: Talented musicians are paying respectful tribute to the music of classic Americana, while still creating songs and sounds that are unquestionably contemporary. The Felice Brothers are fine examples of this movement, as are Two Dark Birds, a band born of Pakatakan Mountain and the mind of Maplewood alum Steve Koester.

Littlefield:DENISON WITMER & CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS (OF RAINER MARIA) & THE POISON TREE – Witmer, gentle guitar and soothing voice are deceptively powerful, enough to put even the most jaded indie rockers in touch with their inner James Taylor. / Caithlin De Marrais is a torch singer for a novel kind of heartache. She channels Emily Dickinson, telling truth at a slant. It’s no surprise, De Marrais used to be lead singer and bassist with critically acclaimed indie rock band Rainer Maria (’95-’06). / The Poison Tree’s new record could easily have been found on an some old reels of 1/2″ tape buried under a mattress in the Chelsea hotel.

Issue Project Room: Paul Flaherty Quartet + Indignant Senility + Family Underground w/ DJ Sets by Expressway Yo-Yo Dieting - aul Flaherty (tenor & alto sax ) has been playing free improv music for the past 40 years. His music is an attempt each time to release to whatever sounds or improvised themes that need to emerge. There are no written tunes, pre-arranged outlines, or group leaders once the music begins. / Indigent Senility: Slowly demented and nightmarish wasteland sequences from Portland, Oregon’s Pat Maherr, crafting his debut album under the Indignant Senility moniker. / Pat Maherr aka Expressway Yo-Yo Dieting (aka DJ Yo-Yo Dieting) first appeared on the radar with the dilapidated droneworks of his Indignant Senility releases.

IBeam Brooklyn: BEN HOLMES & PATRICK FARRELL/Curated by Rich Johnson –Ignite a Noise Brass. Holems & Farrell: The duo of Patrick Farrell (accordion) and Ben Holmes (trumpet) have collectively traveled to study music in Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, and Hungary. The duo combines the results of these journeys with a deep knowledge of the Klezmer repertoire, original writing, the odd 60s pop chestnut, and an all-abiding love of a good melody regardless of source to present an exciting and varied program of music in an intimate chamber setting. Curated by Rich Johnson – Ignite a Noise Brass Free jazz fire, a Nick Drake cover, and melodious folk tunes.Rich Johnson – trumpet; Kirk Knuffke – cornet; Brian Drye & Curtis Hasselbring – trombones

Bellhouse:REVEREND HORTON HEAT / REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND - Undeniably, The Reverend Horton Heat, aka Jim Heath, is the biggest, baddest, grittiest, greasiest, greatest rocker that ever piled his hair up and pounded the drinks down. The king of Rockabilly Music! / The Big Damn Band is very much a family affair, with the good reverend on finger-style resonator guitar and lead vocals, his wife “Washboard” Breezy Peyton on washboard and vocals, and distant cousin Aaron “Cuz” Persinger on drums and bucket. *GYFO pick of the wknd

Saturday May 7th, 2011

Rock Shop:Julia Nunes / Allison Weiss – Julia Nunes (pronounced NOONZ) is a native of upstate New York. She is a talented singer-songwriter, guitarist, and ukulele player. Allison Weiss is an energetic 23-year-old with an electric guitar, an avid online following, and a whole lot of feelings. With her quirky charm and sharp pop sensibilities, Weiss makes losing a little more fun.

Rock Shop:Dax Riggs / Cristina Black - Louisiana’s own dark star and Orpheus of the underground, Dax Riggs – the fool in your tarot deck – trippin’ over his own tombstone, reaching into the atmosphere and pulling spirits from the air. An alchemy of all roots music, doom metal and glam-punk poetry. It sounds like voodoo, feels like redemption and puts off heat like a burning oil rig. / Cristina Black is a singer – songwriter.

Littlefield: REGGAE RETRO 1ST SATURDAYS PARTY – Littlefield welcomes the legendary dance party Reggae Retro, which features a blend of classic reggae music and pays tribute to the legends of reggae music. Established in 2002, Reggae Retro is NYC’s longest running reggae dance party and takes place on the 1st Saturday of each month. Since its early roots at the dawn of the new millennium, Reggae Retro has become the most anticipated underground monthly reggae event, featuring DJs Jase, Silence, Point Blank Sound & Strugglers Movement.

Issue Project Room: David Linton + Bruce Tovsky - All of David Linton‘s time-based multiple media work of the last 30 years has it’s roots in the late “electric” phase of the second half of the 20th century as it anticipated and thereby prepared the transition to the “electronic” present which we now inhabit. This is not to say that he advocates nostalgia… but that he chooses to continue to pursue understanding the elusive miracles of this formative transitional period in mass human communication and technology through the perspective of his own lived experience – by now ever so slightly enhanced by the wisdom of hindsight – above all else. / Bruce creates live video and sound improvisations, often in collaborations with other artists and musicians. He studied with Fluxus greats Bob Watts, Geoff Hendricks and Daniel Goode, and showed his video work across the USA, Europe and Japan.

Brooklyn Lyceum: Up in Arms - With arms raised high in triumph, the Alternative Arts Association is proud to unite for our five year anniversary show, UP IN ARMS.

Brooklyn Lyceum: GALA/NYC Music Series - a one-of-a-kind presentation of performances from a variety of musical styles and art media, anchored and developed by the versatile Juilliard trained cellist and composer, Mike Block, hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as the ideal musician of the 21st Century.

Brooklyn Lyceum: Gentrify Brooklyn – Comedy Show: GENTRIFY BROOKLYN is hosted by the twin terrors of east coast improvisation, M.A.D. and SIDECAR. Its’ mission is to take the city’s most talented improvisers, stand ups, and sketch comedians out of hateful, smutty Manhattan and to insert them into pastoral, loving Brooklyn, where they all live anyway.

Bellhouse: THE 137TH KENTUCKY DERBY - ALL DAY (Plates by URBAN RUSTIC) 1pm to 5pm DJ stylings by Party Like It’s 1999′s Steven R. Reynolds in the front lounge. Hats available from Brooklyn milliner La China Loca. 3pm to 5pm Square dancing led by David Harvey & NYC Barn Dance. No experience required: all dances taught on the spot! 5pm to 6pm Call to the Post by bugler Ryan Resky leads to the main room.The singing of My Old Kentucky Home by The Nouvellas.Prizes for Best Formal Hat, Best Informal Hat and runners up, plus Sharp Dressed Man and runners up. Hosted by Michael Andrews Bespoke. 6pmPOST TIME — and they’re off! 7pm Live Band Karaoke with Bunnie England and the New Originals on the big stage. Trophies awarded for Most Inspiring Performances.

Sunday May 8th, 2011

Issue Project Room: Share – free audio & video jam. SHARE is first and foremost a platform to explore expression, in a variety of artforms. Through its weekly open jam sessions, SHARE.nyc engages its participants and spectators in a continually changing dialog on art and culture. As such, SHARE represents an ongoing exploration of collaborative performance as cultural exchange. It mines the relationship of artistic practice to cultural identity, remapping a multiplicity of cultural discourses. The act of creating artistic content in a multicultural collaborative context is a fascinating and natural extension of the SHARE concept.

Future

May 15th - 248th MAD SCIENTIST SCIENTIFIC EXPOSITION EXPLOSION SCIENCE FAIR! Use all of your most creative intellectual prowess, or borrow some, to construct a verifiable scientific experiment which includes one experimental variable following the scientific method or just make a diorama full of dinosaurs (not everybody has to win)! Having trouble digesting all the information? Worried that it is against the rules to get your parents’ help? Take a look at these ribbon-winning suggestions: Why is the sky blue when reflected in the black Gowanus? Which acts are nominally legal and which ones will actually get you arrested? (highly dangerous research, proceed with caution) How many MORE eggs can a fat person eat?Do people actually look better when I’m drunk?Graphic representation of where your hands have been for the past two weeks.

If you wish to have your Gowanus event listed please send an email to GowanusYourFaceOff@gmail.com and we will gladly include the event and a link about the event in our weekly post.

*information on this list is borrowed from the indicated venues’ websites. The use of content is meant to promote the venue and the artists or groups.

So last mouth Bellhouse put on a ‘whotastic’ event with the BBC America/Secret Formula Page Doctor Who event. And we thought no event could ever be greater. . . but coming this weekend the Bellhouse is going to eclipse itself withthe Reverend Horton Heat. If you have not heard of Reverend Horton Heat than you have yet to live. The group is a staple of Texas rock music and represents the cool part of Texas (one away from Politics) were everyone ropes cattle during the day and shreds on their guitars at night. The Reverend Horton Heat is the gospel of Rockabilly music, which in the simplest terms is: Country meets Punk gets hopped up on hardcore Blues and starts an impromptu Honky Tonk rave. With classic tunes like: Big Red Rocket of Love and the Jimbo Song the groups sound has been emulated, but never matched. The bass, the drums, and the guitar rifts will give you a tingling urge not felt since you discovered beer! Sure we could also review their latest album and tell you that Laughing and Crying keeps to their tradition punk country feel, while adding in a little more swing bounce beat, but the album is so badass that simplifying in print seems insulting to its’ sound. Just take a listen and you will know what we mean. This is the must see show of the year hands down. Don’t walk…Run and Get your ticket!!!

* GYFO Warning: This show will melt your face off, not metaphorically, but literally. The Reverend Horton Heat is a God playing music in the world of men!

Farmers, Rockers, Dancers, A Sing-Along, Anthropology, A Market, Movers, Shakers, and much more. This is your weekend Gowanus and it will awesome your face off…

Thursday April 28th, 2011

Bellhouse: Aladdin Sing-Along - You neighbors will appriciate that you take a break from Karakeeing to Disney at the 3am by you going to the Bellhouse to belt out your best version of a Whole New World…shiny shimmering…; there will be trivia, costume contest, singing, plus more.

Littlefield: MARY HALVORSON and JESSICA PAVONE & Mantra Percussion – performing an excerpt from Michael Gordon’s “Timber”- Hailed by the New York Times as “…finely polished…a fresh source of energy,” Mantra Percussion is committed to substantially expanding the future of percussion repertoire by commissioning and performing new, significant works for large percussion ensemble by both prominent and emerging composers to breathe new life into the art. Our aim is for most of these works to engage cross-discipline collaborations to produce evening-length events that look toward a grander artistic vision.

Friday April 29th, 2011

Bellhouse: The Baseball Project & Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 – The Baseball Project: What happens when your band’s debut album is a run- scoring hit with both music and baseball fans? If you’re The Baseball Project, you grab some friends to fill out your bench, take batting practice by writing songs for ESPN and deliver a strikeout pitch with Volume Two: High and Inside. / Steven Wynn does not seem to be that famous guy from vegas, but he (or maybe them) and Miracle 3 seem to produce Garage-Indie-Psychedelic Rock.

Gowanus Art Building: Gowanus Wildlife Preserve Showcase #12 - Spoke the Hub’s longest running concert series of new dance, music and performance. Each program supports five to six artists in varied career stages, from emerging to established. The Gowanus Wildlife Preserve showcase offers a vibrant mix of choreographers, musicians, performance artists and their selected casts the opportunity to work in a professional but informal setting that emphasizes experimentation. Friday Night includes a Dance party with Art Lillard’s Band & Blue Heaven.

Zora’s Space: Kai Ando’s Grand Cru- Kai Ando is an active bassist in New York City. He can be heard playing with many up and coming artists around the city. Most recently, Kai was featured in American Place Theatre’s production of ‘The Things They Carried’, based on the novel by author Tim O’Brien.

Saturday April 30, 2011

Bellhouse: Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys & Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social Club- Alejandro Escovedo is one with his muse and his music. Over a lifetime spent traversing the bridge between words and melody, he has ranged over an emotional depth that embraces all forms of genre and presentation, a resolute voice that weathers the emotional terrain of our lives, its celebrations and despairs, landmines and blindsides and upheavals and beckoning distractions, in search for ultimate release and the healing truth of honesty. / Jesse Malin, the unofficial “Mayor Of St. Marks Place” has evolved from the glam/trash sounds of D Generation to the more mature singer-songwriter approach of his heroes such as Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

Brooklyn Lyceum: Dale Radio Live! – Join the “Voice of the Gowanus,” Dale Seever, for a live version of his cult-podcast, Dale Radio! Highlighting things he enjoys, Dale chats with special guests from the worlds of comedy, arts, music, and food, many of whom are drawing inspiration from the fetid little canal we all love.

Prospect Park: Brooklyn PTA’s 5k run for School- The PTAs of Brooklyn’s public schools and office of Brooklyn City Council Member Brad Lander are coming together to sponsor the fourth annual PTA 5-kilometer race/walk/stroll/toddle in Prospect Park.

Zora’s Space: Afternoon Poetry with Kate Light & Harry Newman - Kate Light’s volumes of poetry include Gravity’s Dream (Donald Justice Award), Open Slowly, and The Laws of Falling Bodies (Nicholas Roerich Prize). Her poetry has been featured four times on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and is included in The Penguin Book of the Sonnet and many other publications. / Harry Newman’s poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Ecotone, Asheville Poetry Review, Rattle and The New Guard. His poems have been nominated twice for Pushcart Prizes and shortlisted twice for the Bridport Prize in England.

Everywhere: TD 5 boro bike tour - more than 30,000 cyclists will experience New York City from a perspective unlike any other: pedaling down 42 miles of car-free streets through all five boroughs, taking in views of iconic landmarks like the Empire State building, Brooklyn Bridge, historic Harlem, and the Statue of Liberty. Support individuals and charities riding this great race.

Gowanus Art Building: Gowanus Wildlife Preserve Showcase #12 - Spoke the Hub’s longest running concert series of new dance, music and performance. Each program supports five to six artists in varied career stages, from emerging to established. The Gowanus Wildlife Preserve showcase offers a vibrant mix of choreographers, musicians, performance artists and their selected casts the opportunity to work in a professional but informal setting that emphasizes experimentation.

Future:

May 6th: Bellhouse – The one, the only Reverend Horton Heat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Texas Rockabilly band that will melt your face off!!!!

May 11th: Brooklyn Lyceum – The Little Prinsinn: Inspired by Antoine Saint-Exupery’s famous fable, a team of visual artists, puppeteers, movers, and doers weave a dream circus told through many mediums.